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A wheat WRKY transcription factor TaWRKY17 enhances tolerance to salt stress in transgenic Arabidopsis and wheat plant

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Abstract

WRKY transcription factors are essential to plant growth, development, resistance, and the regulation of metabolic pathways. In this study, we characterized TaWRKY17, a WRKY transcription factor from wheat, which was differentially expressed in various wheat organs and was up-regulated by salt, drought, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. To analyze TaWRKY17 function under salt stress, we obtained stable T3 generation transgenic Arabidopsis and wheat TaWRKY17 overexpression plants. TaWRKY17 overexpression in Arabidopsis and wheat caused a significant plant salt-stress tolerance enhancement. Under salt stress, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) enzyme activities were elevated in transgenic Arabidopsis and wheat plants compared with the wild type (WT), whereas H2O2 and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation was reduced in the transgenic lines. Moreover, ABA/reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related, and stress-response genes were regulated in the transgenic wheat plants, increasing tolerance to salt stress. The transgenic wheat plants were highly sensitive to ABA during seed germination and early seedling growth. In addition, TaWRKY17 virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) decreased salt tolerance. These results showed that TaWRKY17 enhances salt tolerance by regulating ABA/ROS-related, and stress-response genes and increasing anti-oxidative stress capabilities. Therefore, this gene could be a target for the genetic modification of wheat.

Key message

TaWRKY17 may act as a positive regulator in salt stress responses through either efficient ROS elimination, direct/indirect activation of the cellular antioxidant systems, or activation of stress-associated gene expression.

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Data availability

The datasets analysed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Henan Provincial Department of Science and Technology Research Project (No. 222102110461) and key scientific research projects of colleges and universities in Henan Province (23A210010).

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  1. School of Life Science and Technology, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, 453003, China

    Yongang Yu, Yanxia Wu & Lingyun He

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  1. Yongang Yu
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YY conceived and designed the experiments. YW conducted the experiments, collected and analysed. LH participated in data analysis. YY and YW wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yongang Yu.

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Yu, Y., Wu, Y. & He, L. A wheat WRKY transcription factor TaWRKY17 enhances tolerance to salt stress in transgenic Arabidopsis and wheat plant. Plant Mol Biol 113, 171–191 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-023-01381-1

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